What is a Freedom House?

“We must preserve spaces and sites across Mississippi that remind us of where we come f rom and instruct us on how to move forward. At the top of the list are Freedom Houses and Freedom Schools, which help to tell the story of the most tumultuous years of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. My colleagues and I at the Alluvial Collective are committed to working with the Mississippi Heritage Trust and others to ensure we preserve these spaces and gain the tools to help us all learn through the stories they hold. 

For thirty years, my grandfather has shared many stories about his life, our family, and the Sunflower County, Mississippi, of the 1950s and 1960s that molded him and most of my family. I’ve always been proud of being born there. One of the most memorable stories he ever shared was about the experience of one of my great uncles, barely a teenager, who volunteered with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Sunflower County to protect churches and Freedom Schools from violence and attacks.”